Eurovision Again: Aussievision's Top 10 non-qualifiers

To mark the end of Eurovision Again 2020 and to celebrate the start of the national final season, the EBU and Eurovision Again are giving Eurofans the opportunity to vote for their favourite Eurovision semi-final non-qualifiers in a special edition of the show.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Eurovision Again, it became the weekly watch party that has taken Europe by storm every Saturday night. Eurovision Again was created by British Eurovision journalist Rob Holley and has had the support of the Eurovision Song Contest itself.

This Saturday December 19 (Sunday December 20 in Australia) the special non-qualifier edition will take place where you get to choose the 26 competing songs and vote for a winner.

The 26 songs, that will be revealed during the show, were chosen by a combination of public vote through the Eurovision Instagram account and with input from 12 sites and podcasts from the Eurovision fan community.

In celebration of the Eurovision Again semi-final special the Aussievision team looked back in time and voted for their favourite Eurovision non-qualifiers of the last 16 years. We collated the teams votes of everyones favourite song from every country that has failed to qualify for the Grand Final more than once since the Eurovision Semi-Finals were introduced in 2004. And our top 10 consists of entries from 10 different countries.

We can reveal four countries narrowly missed out on a spot in our top 10 rankings with theses entries being the unlucky ones:

• Who See - ‘Igranka’ - Montenegro - 2013

• Sofi Marinova - ‘Love Unlimited’ - Bulgaria - 2012

• Nicky Byrne - ‘Sunlight’ - Ireland - 2016

• Joci Pápai - ‘Az én apám’ - Hungary - 2019

Here is how the Aussievision team voted:

10. Lidia Isac - ‘Falling Stars’ - Moldova - 2016

The Aussievision team has taste as we unashamedly love this entry from Moldova. This performance has everything you could ever want. It's a Eurobanger with an astronaut dancer and an endearing performer! Unfortunately on the night it came last in the televote and 15th in the jury for a 17th place overall.

9. ALEKSEEV - ‘Forever’ - Belarus - 2018

The Aussievision team clearly loved the song 'Forever' itself or perahps were drawn by something in ALEKSEEV’s performance of ‘Forever’, whether it is the explosion of red rose petals, the eloquent red dressed dancer or the shocking twist when ALEKSEEV reveals his back with a gaping wound filled with red roses. The entry finished in 16th place in Lisbon and became Belarus’ 10th entry to fail to qualify to the grand final.

8. Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta - ‘Hope Never Dies’ - Czech Republic - 2015

Two phenomenal vocalists smashing out a power ballad duet with no staging except for a thrown heel? Of course ‘Hope Never Dies’ makes our top 10! Unfortunately for Marta Jandová and Václav Noid Bárta they finished 10th with the televoters and 12th with the juries, finishing in 13th place overall. It is an absolute tragedy.

7. Kate Ryan - ‘Je t’adore’ - Belgium - 2006

‘Je t’adore’ was a hot favourite in 2006, that even a musical expert jury, which included former Eurovision entrants, by the BBC voted the song in first place in the lead up to the Contest. The song had all hallmarks of a success; a beautiful woman singing, English lyrics, a catchy chorus and a disco and dance sounding song. It shocked everyone when the song was placed 12th with 69 points.

6. Yianna Terzi - ‘Oniro Mou’ - Greece - 2018

'Oniro Mou’ is only one out of two Greek Eurovision entries to fail to make it to the grand final stage. The song performed in Greek and co-written by Yianna Terzi finished in 14th place in the Eurovision semi final 1 in Lisbon. Yianna is the daughter of the famous Greek singer Paschalis Terzis.

5. Suzy - ‘Quero Ser Tua’ - Portugal - 2014

Suzy just edged out Portugal’s 2019 entry ‘Telemoveis’ for a place in our top 10. But nothing can beat this infectious banger! ‘Quero ser tua’ is an upbeat, dance track, combining pop elements with a Portuguese sound to create an uplifting song which sounds like it could easily a football stadium anthem. Unfortunately for Suzy she came in at 11th place missing the grand final but just a single point! As heart breaking as it is, justice has been served today making the top 5 in our non-qualifier rankings.

4. ZiBBZ - ‘Stones’ - Switzerland - 2018

ZiBBZ’s ‘Stones’ was unfortunately a victim of being in a very strong semi final in 2018. The song was ranked 10th by the juries, but it was the televote which let the song down, placing a low 15th place, with a 13th placed finish overall. The LA-based brother-sister duo have however pleased the Aussievision team with a 4th place finish in our rankings.

3. Norma John - ‘Blackbird’ - Finland - 2017

This haunting, poetic and intense ballad was expected to be a jury favourite, ‘Blackbird’ ended up being placed 10th with the televote and 12th by the juries, finishing overall in 12th place. However Australia was captives by Norma John’s performance! ‘Blackbird’ scored points from Australia in the semi final, with 2 points from the Australian televoting public and 7 points form the Australian jury.

2. Koit Toome & Laura - ‘Verona’ - Estonia - 2017

This fan and televote favourite entry ‘Verona’ had everything wrong with it, a microphone fail, dramatic stares from the Koit and Laura which have become popular memes and an outdated sounding song, punished by the juries. But this song is now a classic with a cult following among the fandom, and clearly a huge favourite with the Aussievision team.

1. Greta Salóme - ’Hear Them Calling’ - Iceland - 2016

It comes as no surprise that the Aussievision team would go for the entry with iconic staging by an Aussie creative director Jonathan Duffy. It was a total shock though that this infectious radio friendly entry didn’t qualify for the grand final. Greta Salóme was a fan favourite going in but ended up finishing in 14th place.

Finishing second for Iceland from the Aussieivision team that had enough points to be placed in the top 10 was Silvia Night with ‘Congratulations’. Unlucky for Ms Night, but congratulations to Greta Salóme.

You can catch the Eurovision Again Semi Final Special at 21.00 CET on Saturday 19 December (that is at 7.00 am AEDT on Sunday 20 December) on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel here.